Shaper



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Jan. 25 1945.

/N vs N rc1? Howe/QD C. 4A/@Hofs 7- Jan. 2, 1945. H; c. LANGHRST 'SHAPER Filed Aug. 3, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MN @mi ORNE/5 Patented Jan. `2, 1945` SHAPER T E v E `Howard Langhorsa Dayton, Ohio j Application August s, 1943, serial No. 497,224

` 4 claims; (o1. f90-*13:20`

(Granted under `the act of tMarch 3, 21883, `as

`amended April 30, 1928; 370 `O. G. `'757)` A'l'."he invention described herein may be man- C iufa'ctured and used by or for the Government .fforigovernmental purposes, `without. the payment '-to meof any royalty thereon.

invention relates to improvements in Ish'a'pers 'for duplicatingpatterned surfaces, `particularly warped, irregular and non-planar `sur- J"faces such as propeller blades.

Anobjectlofthe inventionis to improve ma- `rchines of the character by providing auniver-v fsally adjustable pattern follower'adjustably conltrolled `automatically bythe plane of the pattern 'transvers'ely of the path of the follower to `con-` `:istantly bring the contacting surface of` the `fol-` :lower linto substantially parallel` relationship with i'said transverse plane andfurther by,` providing a cutterremotely controlled by the follower to ttra-vel `in Vangular unison therewith :over the sur- .face :being developed in conformitywith the pattern.

T :anarrangement whereby a single cutter head is Irequired forV all shapes veloped. E

. Anotherobject of the inventionis to provide a 'shaper 1in which no balancing arrangement is Another object ofthe invention is to provide and contours to be deson and are threaded to receive anddrive a pair of` traveling nuts` I1 and i8. The upper portion of each of` the respective traveling nuts I1 and "P8 is Aslotted from the top downward" to provide yokes or saddleflike guideways I9 and 20 `trav- "ersely of `the direction of the travel of the nuts upon the feed screws.

Spring seats 2| and`22 are positioned `within the saddle-like guideways `l!) and 2u and a nonrotatable `slide bar 23 `is suspended horizontally thereacross.

'longitudinallyof itself through the slots l 9 and 28.

` Such meanscmay suitably consist of a feed screw 2`4 rotatably` coupled vto an end of the slide bar` 23 ioperable through a traveling nut 25` resiliently E mounted slidably on a fixed track 26. The slide bar 23 is `provided with three bear-- ings "21, 28 and 29,"upon whichfequal length arms- Y 130, `3|, and 32"are pendulously mounted. The arms are free` to swing, or be moved, `through i equal* predetermined arcs limited by stops 34 necessary, such as in conventional` types of shapf iers, for causing `thetcutter to` follow" in uniplane with and =trailingly of the pattern follower.` E With the foregoing and other readily apparent `:object-s `and aims in View, my invention resides in `the combination of `parts and in the details :of -fconstruction hereinafter :set forth in the fol- ;lowingTspecicatiofn and appended claims, certain embodiments thereof having the characteristics .of my invention and by which the same may be Tpracticed being illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: E T

1:isa plan View; y (i Fig. 2, a cross sectional view `takenat line r2--2` lofFig. 1; 1, l

`Figr, an end` elevational View of the univeri.sally mounted pattern follower angularly and pivotally disposed. to illustrate a principle of `op- ,eration; and T i Fig. 4, aside` elevational `view .taken `at `line '4-4of Figj.

The assembly .explaining an` embodiment of my invention in- Ecludesa pair of` elevated, horizontally` disposed `illustrated for the purpose `of i fdisposedlstandards t2, `I3,` I4 and `l5 ized upon a'base I6. The feed screws I0 and I .I aremprovldedfwitnmeansfor rotating the same in uni-f5 and 35. Upon the `depending ends of the `arms T 30,3land32 wheel-vokes 33, 3l and 38 are univer- "25 sally `mounted by suitable means such as a conventionally known ball and socket arrangement as illustrated, particularly in Fig.` 3. The wheel- `yokes carry axles 39, 40 and 4l which extend. ...through the legs of the yokes and outwardly :beyond the ,plane of the outer surfaces thereof for purposes described immediately hereinafter.

Identical pattern follower-wheels 42 and 43 are mounted upon the axles of the universally mount `,ed `yokes 36 and 38 of the first and thirdarms 30 and 32 and `upon axlelll of yoke 310i the mid- Tdle arm 3l `is mounted a` cutter 44 having aidiaineter equal to that of the pattern wheels `42 `and 43. The cutter may be rotatably drivenby `any suitable means, one of which may be a mo- `tor `45 `mounted uponthe cutter yoke 31 or axle 4in. l T

In order to insurethat the cutter travels an .identical path `and `in uniplanar motionwithtthe paths andthe motions of the pattern follower wheels 42 and 43, as the slide bar `23 is caused to reciprocate,` identical rigid cradle-like frames '46 and 41 are` swiveled to the opposite `extensions 4a-40, 5o-5| and 52-53` of axles 39, "to and 4| 0f the pattern follower wheels and cutter.

connections .between4 farms '39. Stand 32 `and .the v v Means are provided for causing the v `slide bar to be reciprocatingly moved, to-:and-fro,

Byswiveling the rigid frames to the axles in some suitable manner, such as shown in Figs.

yokes 36, 31 and 38 allow the wheels and cutter to tilt or pivot in unison about horizontal axes. As the surface of the patterns causes the wheels to pivot about vertical axes, the rectangles formed by the frames 46 and 41 and axles 39, 40 and 4I, in plan as shown in Fig. 1, take the .form of'rhomboids. By this arrangement the contacting surfaces of the pattern follower wheels may be automatically maintained in parallel with the surfaces of the patterns being traversed and the cutter is controlled by the frames 46 and 41 to follow in unison.

Upon the base I6 are mounted a pair of patterns 56 vand '51 of identical shape, size and contour with that of the duplicates desired to be produced. These patterns are positioned with their center lines in parallel and spaced a distance equal to that of the space between the axles 39 and 40 of the pattern follower wheels 42 and v43. The patterns are maintained in spaced parallel relationship by any suitable means, such as bolts 58, whereby reverse or other patterns may be` substituted. The piece of stock 59 from which the duplicate is to be fashioned, is disposed centrally of the patterns, parallel therewith and@ secured in some suitable manner as by clamps 66.

By the structure described, the pattern wheels will tilt and pivot in unison as shown in Fig. 4, so as at all times to maintain the surfaces thereof in parallelism with each successive fractional.

portion of the patterns in the paths of the wheels as they vare drawn to-and-fro by reciprocation of the slide bar and by reason of the cradle connection of the cutter head with the-wheels, the cutter head angle is maintained in unison with that of the wheels for the production of a duplicate surface.

In operation the slide bar is drawn longitudi- I nally of itself until the pattern follower wheels traverse the patterns, the feed screws are adjusted for a return swath, and the slide bar is then pushed or drawn in the reverse direction. In reversing the direction of travel, the arms 30, 3| and 32 move from contact with one of the stops 34 or 35 into contact with the other and there held rigid by the downward load of the slide bar. This process is continued until, by successive swaths, the patterns have been traversed, whereupon the partially patterned stock 59 is overturned, reverse patterns substituted, and the operation repeated.

By the permissible swing of the arms 310, 3|

' and 32, the wheels 42 and 43 and the cutter 44 are trailingly drawn over the patterns and the stock at a constant angle in order that they may properly seat and guide themselves over the course in uniformity. During the rise and fall of the wheels as they approach, and descend from, the summits of the patterns, the trailing angle of the arms 3i?, 3i and 32 is allowed to remain constant by the floating arrangement of the slide bar in the Saddles or yokes i9 and 26 of the traveling nuts l1 and i8. By the use of two or more identical patterns and suitable pattern followers secured to traverse the patterns in unison, the cutter, suspended therebetween, is forced to travel on an identical plane, an identical angle,

Yand simultaneously with the pattern followers.

provement comprising a pair of spaced `pattern followers connected to said bar universally tilt-- able about horizontal axes and pivotal about ver- .tical axes, a cutter head suspended intermediately of said followers and on a plane therewith, and frame means for causing said followers and cutter head to move inunisonthroughout all tilts about horizontal aXes and rotatory movements about vertical axes as the followers are caused to traverse the contours of patterns by the reciprocation of the slide bar. i

2. A surface duplicatingdevice comprising the combination of a base having means for securing a pair of like patterns with similar predetermined lines thereof in spaced parallel relation and for securing a blank piece of stock intermediately thereof, a pair of feed screws lhorizontally disposed above said base upon standards and in spaced substantially parallel relationship with one another, a traveling yoke mounted on each of said feed screws, means for driving said lfeed screws to move said yokes in unison, a slide bar slidable through and suspended in said yokes,

means for reciprocating said bar longitudinally 'of itself, like pattern followers carried by said bar verse pattern contacting surfaces in parallel with` the successively traversed portions of said patterns on a plane transverse of the path of the pattern followers, a cutter operable upon said piece of stock, and means for causing said cutter to move through the same planes with said followers and with its contacting surface in angular unison with the follower contacting surfaces.

3. In combination with a suspended slide bar of a shaper and means for reciprocally moving the bar longitudinally of itself, the improvement comprising a patternfollower connected to said bar universally tiltable about horizontal aXes and pivotal about vertical axes independently of said bar, a cutter head suspended from said bar to a plane with said follower, means for causing said follower to maintain its pattern contacting surface parallel to the plane of the successively con-l tacted Vpattern surfaces, means for causing said cutter head to move in unison with saidl follower throughout all of its planes of travel over said pattern and in unison therewith throughout all tilts about horizontal axes and rotatory movements about vertical axes as the follower is caused to traverse or follow the contoursof a pattern by the reciprocation of the slide bar.

4. A surface duplicating device comprising the combination of a Ibase having means for removably securing a pattern and a blank piece of stock, a slide bar, means forreciprocating said tion of the pattern in parallel in a direction` transverse of the path of the follower, a cutter operable upon saidv pieceof stock, and meansfor causing said cutter to move through the same plane with said follower and with its contacting surface in angular unison with the pattern contactinvg surface of the follower. K y

' HOWARD C. LANGHORSTQ 

